thank you...here is a chair!

When we got pregnant everyone was so happy for us. Herbert and Lindsey were so thrilled as they had just gone through the whole experience themselves; their little bundle of joy was just 2 months old. I am sure they felt happy that little Michayla would soon have a cousin with whom to play with. I know I was happy at the idea that they would grow up together and I could just picture them as two mischievous little monkeys. Lindsey quickly took me under her wing and began telling me of all the things I needed to prepare for, not only during the pregnancy but also after the birth. She began gathering things she no longer needed and would send me home with goodies for the new baby and for myself. It was a little overwhelming at first…what will I do with all this stuff? But as an inexperienced soon-to-be-mother, I had trust that mama Lindsey knew what was best. Oh, my god did we get hooked up. Really! Everything that they gave us was so useful and I cannot believe how much money it saved us. All I have to say is thank you Herbert, Lindsey and little Michayla, you guys are AWESOME!

As a thank you gift I redid a chair that would go perfectly in their new home. It really looks beautiful!

projects - before and after pictures

I finally got some before and after pictures of some of the projects that I have been working on in the past year. These have been really fun to work on and I am so glad to have found some time to add some pictures to the blog. I am currently focusing on things for the nursery and can’t wait for it to be completed, but first I need to find out the sex of Buggie so I can add the finishing touches. Did I say finishing touches? I still have tons to do! Does anyone know where I can find a vintage Danish rocking chair?


My first chair, I don’t know why I chose such a hard chair to do! Honestly I knew nothing about upholstering furniture. At one point I did ask, “what did I get myself into?!”

Got so excited about my first chair that I found two of these for an amazing deal! One is complete; I have to finish the second one!


I found these gorgeous stools (2) at an antique store in Oregon and I had to buy them! I am not too excited about the fabric I chose and will for sure change it to bring in more color. Most of the chairs I sold/will sell but I think I will keep these stools as they are so useful.


Found this chair for free on the sidewalk outside of a friend’s house. Forced him to put the chairs my car and he did not understand why I wanted to take a crappy thing home. Hope he gets it now! I like the old look of the wood but debating if I should add something to make it look less beat up.


I bought this dresser at the antiques fair with my sister. I was on a mission to find something I could use in the nursery as a changing table and found this reasonably priced piece. I love how the colors add vibrancy to the room!

our new AMP website!!!!

I am so proud to announce that Alarcon Murakami Photography has a new website!!!! For a while I have been working on this website on my time off and I just couldn't wait for it to be ready to unveil to the public. This is extremely important for us as that is the first thing people ask for...a website to see our work and get more information. I am feeling a little more official than before (he, he). Now I need to rework our blog and continue pushing our marketing forward to get more customers. I really hope AMP can take off and do great things. I really believe we can do an amazing job and we have the passion for it, I hope others can see that too!

Please visit:
http://alarconmurakami.com/

five out of six: special projects

I have slowed down a bit when it comes to special projects as my life has gotten busier with a full time job. However, to stay sane and happy I DO have to work on something creative and thus try my hardest to continue one of my passions to create colorful things. I have worked on a few chairs That I will display the pictures of once I am ready and painted a few pieces of furniture that I will also display later in the month.

The newest things that I have dipped my toes into is baking. For some strange reason I have been wanting to learn how to bake and have already made my first cake from scratch and cupcakes from scratch. The cake I made for my coworker Angela on the day of her birthday. I made a chocolate cake with chocolate morsels, raspberry mousse filling and chocolate mousse frosting...I don't know what else to call it. It came out AMAZING! I am not a chocolate person and definitely not a cake person but I happened to create a delicious treat for cake/chocolate lovers, who would've figured! For the cupcakes, I made banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. These were done very healthy, but next time I will most definitely go with a different recipe as I know I can make some better tasting banana bread. Well...we will see what I come up with next? Mexican cupcakes with a little bit of spice and chocolate? I don't know, something crazy like that!

No pics of my cupcakes :(

my first reupholstery project

I have been trying to get back in touch with my creative spirit lately and decided to work on some fun projects. The first one has been to reupholster a chair. It took me a while to find the chair but I eventually found one that was in perfect condition on craigslist. It turns out that it wasn't the easiest chair to begin my first reupholstery project. However, I managed to complete the project and I think it looks beautiful. I bought some amazing fabric that was way over my budget! But it was sooooo irresistible and I am glad I did because the chair looks amazing!

I am now looking a for a good home for my chair. It is such a great accent piece, I can imagine billions of ways to make it work in either a room or a living room. Let me know if you are interested...

here is the before pictures:


Tito claimed the chair as soon as he saw it, but he only got to enjoy it for one day because as soon as I started working on it, it was off limits to kitties.

...and here is the completed chair...believe me, it is so comfy!

fix my room!!!

I love decorating and anything interior design...actually anything that involves creativity and inspiration. This past week my good friend Dalena asked me to help her decorate her room. She was temporarily sleeping on a futon cover while she waited to purchase her new bed frame at ikea. I agreed to help her if she chose not to purchase the ikea frame. She hesitantly asked..."what do you have in mind?" I told her..."well, I would like to stretch your money more...I think we can get much more than just a bed frame." Her large room was pretty empty and she was in need of more furniture. She agreed and together we jumped on the crazy wagon and we focused on our mission to find the best deals. I thought it would take us more like 2 to three weeks to finish the room, however, since we were both so into this project, we finished it in two working days...lets say three days.

Here is her room before, pretty much that was all you could find in her room.

And here is the room after (we still have to add a couple of accents, but for the most part it is done). We recycled what ever we had and although not all the colors matched, somehow it came together so well. I bet she now feels like a brand new woman in her new room! I am so happy for her.

Pictures taken with my iphone.